Team Captain
Michael Spurr
To contact Michael use the site Contact Form and select U2050 Captain from the dropdown.
2025-26 Team navigation
Teams 2025-26 page | U2050 | U1850 | U1650 | U1450 | County Classical | SCCU on ECF LMS
Team fixtures
| Date | Home Team | Score | Away Team | Start |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 04-Oct-2025 | Kent | 7-9 | Essex | 12:30 |
| 01-Nov-2025 | Essex | 8½-7½ | Middx | 13:30 |
| 22-Nov-2025 | Middx | 4-12 | Essex | 14:00 |
| 06-Dec-2025 | Essex | 7½-8½ | Surrey | 13:30 |
| 24-Jan-2026 | Surrey | 7-9 | Essex | 14:00 |
| 28-Feb-2026 | Essex | – | Kent | 13:30 |
Played: 5; Won: 4; Drawn: 0; Lost: 1; Points: 8; Games – For: 46 Against: 34.
Match cards
U2050
Player Stats
| U2050 @ 24 Jan 2026 | Rtg | P | W | D | L | Pts | % |
| Peter Jaszkiwskyj | 2009 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 3½ | 87.50 |
| Steve Rix | 1994 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3½ | 70.00 |
| Ian Hunnable | 1833 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 3½ | 70.00 |
| Ivan Myall | 2040 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 75.00 |
| Robert Killeen | 1955 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 75.00 |
| Martin McCall | 1900 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2½ | 83.33 |
| Malcolm Kingsley | 1842 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2½ | 62.50 |
| Edgar Wilson | 1964 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2½ | 62.50 |
| Philip Staniland | 1838 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 66.67 |
| Mark Murrell | 1860 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 66.67 |
| John Hodgson | 2036 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 50.00 |
| Salim Kriman | 2000 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 50.00 |
| Christopher Willoughby | 1999 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1½ | 75.00 |
| Rezin Catabay | 1844 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1½ | 75.00 |
| Neville Twitchell | 1809 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1½ | 50.00 |
| Ashwin GopiKrishna | 1826 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1½ | 37.50 |
| Madison Bowden | 1896 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 100.00 |
| Michael Catabay | 1952 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 100.00 |
| Istvan Karacsony | 1905 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 100.00 |
| Ryan Smith | 1967 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 100.00 |
| Alex Collyer | 1819 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 100.00 |
| Robert Stern | 1939 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 50.00 |
| Michael Spurr | 1859 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 25.00 |
| George Hillman | 1700 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ½ | 50.00 |
| Colin Ramage | 1897 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | ½ | 16.67 |
| Ian Reynolds | 1827 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Muhammad Faheem | 1606 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.00 |
| John Moore | 1998 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Mae Catabay | 1907 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Nilesh Upadhye | 1838 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.00 |
| 30 players | 80 | 34 | 24 | 22 | 46 | 57.50% |
U2050
Played Saturday, 4 October 2025, at St Mary Cray
| Kent | v | Essex | |
| 1 | Kolomvas, Dimitrios 2049 (2049) (B) | ½-½ | Hodgson, John H 2036 (2047) (W) |
| 2 | Wheatley, Wilfred 2019 (2019) | 0-1 | Myall, Ivan J 2040 (2009) |
| 3 | O’Donovan, Paul J 2010 (2010) | 0-1 | Jaszkiwskyj, Peter 2009 (2009) |
| 4 | Hartley, Luke 2005 (2005) | 1-0 | Kriman, Salim 2000 (2000) |
| 5 | Keenan, Brendan 1991 (1991) | ½-½ | Rix, Steven JL 1994 (1993) |
| 6 | Swiatkowski, Aram 1932 (1932) | 0-1 | Killeen, Robert T 1955 (1955) |
| 7 | Swiatkowski, Dominik 1930 (1930) | 0-1 | McCall, Martin 1900 (1900) |
| 8 | Jiang, Freddy 1907 (1907) | 1-0 | Spurr, Michael 1859 (1859) |
| 9 | Brown, John 1903 (1933) | 0-1 | Staniland, Philip 1838 (1844) |
| 10 | Allen, John P 1850 (1850) | 0-1 | Kingsley, Malcolm P 1842 (1842) |
| 11 | Nevols, Keith 1851 (1850) | 0-1 | GopiKrishna, Ashwin 1826 (1836) |
| 12 | Sands, Alan VH 1838 (1844) | 1-0 | Reynolds, D Ian W 1827 (1827) |
| 13 | Anstead, Jerry 1831 (1832) | ½-½ | Hunnable, Ian D 1833 (1825) |
| 14 | Brennan, Henry 1804 (1862) | 1-0 | Twitchell, Neville H 1809 (1809) |
| 15 | Lane, Robert E 1803 (1803) | ½-½ | Hillman , George 1700 () |
| 16 | Beavis, Barrington 1766 (1766) | 1-0 | Faheem, Muhammad 1606 (1606) |
| Average: 1906 | 7-9 | Average: 1880 |
Report by skipper Michael Spurr
Our first match of the season was a tricky away tie against Kent. Unfortunately, a number of players were unavailable and I had some trouble finding 16 players! Thankfully, a full team did form in the week before the match and I’d like to thank everyone who was able to play (shout-out to the U2050 debutants, Ashwin, George and Muhammed, who helped to make up the team).
I was also worried about the impact of Storm Amy on travel to Kent (particularly the Dartford Crossing), but conditions were not as bad as I feared and everyone made it to St Mary’s Cray.
Last season, there was a recurring theme of Essex making a good start and then falling away to lose the match. The match away to Kent started in a similar fashion, with Philip’s mating attack gaining the first point. A draw for Ian Hunnable, followed by wins for Rob (sacrificial attack) and Ashwin on his debut (piling up on the h-file) gave Essex a 3 point lead early on. The Kent fightback began with wins on Boards 16 and 4, but Essex still held a 1 point lead.
Rather than losing further, as tended to happen last season, the Essex 3 point lead was restored with wins for Ivan (almost perfectly matching the words of wisdom on his t-shirt!) and Pete. With draws for George and John, Essex moved up to 6½ points with only two more required. Despite Kent victories on Boards 12 and 14, Essex success was secured by wins for Malcolm and Martin. A draw for Steve took us to 9 points with my game the final one to finish. Although better on the board, my opponent had seconds left on the clock. I then absent-mindedly made an illegal move! The penalty was 2 minutes added to my opponent’s clock and I resigned shortly afterwards (knowing that the match was already won).
So, after the disappointment of losing our first three matches last season, we started this season with an excellent win away to a Kent team which outgraded us on average by ~30 points.
U2050
Played Saturday, 1 November 2025, at Wanstead
| Essex | v | Middx | |
| 1 | Hodgson, John H 2036 (2050) [W] | 1-0 | Zadymov, Ihor 2042 (2044) [B] |
| 2 | Myall, Ivan J 2040 (2010) | ½-½ | Calvert, D Ian 1968 (1973) |
| 3 | Murrell, Mark RA 1860 (1836) [s] | ½-½ | Cowan, Xavier 1918 (1905) |
| 4 | Moore, John C 1998 (1991) | 0-1 | Solomon, D Ajoy 1906 (1906) |
| 5 | Rix, Steven JL 1994 (2009) | 1-0 | Fleming, Liam 1901 (1901) |
| 6 | Wilson, Edgar 1964 (1989) | 1-0 | Cann, Arthur 1874 (1881) |
| 7 | Killeen, Robert T 1955 (1954) | 1-0 | Sheard, Jack 1861 (1879) |
| 8 | GopiKrishna, Ashwin 1826 (1913) | ½-½ | Lepetun, Jan 1852 (1862) |
| 9 | McCall, Martin 1900 (1916) | ½-½ | Jayakumar, Bharath 1835 (1829) |
| 10 | Ramage, Colin R 1897 (1905) | 0-1 | Hayali, Laith 1828 (1812) |
| 11 | Bowden, Madison B 1896 (1889) | 1-0 | Kennelly, Paul 1807 (1849) |
| 12 | Spurr, Michael 1859 (1843) | 0-1 | Parakh, Shlok 1779 (1764) |
| 13 | Staniland, Philip 1838 (1866) | 0-1 | Fincham, Leon HJ 1703 (1681) |
| 14 | Kingsley, Malcolm P 1842 (1833) | 1-0 | Padam, JJ 1687 (1691) |
| 15 | Reynolds, D Ian W 1827 (1806) | 0-1 | Cooke, Charlie 1658 (1636) |
| 16 | Hunnable, Ian D 1833 (1827) | ½-½ | O’Caolaidhe, Cormac 1656 (1680) |
| Average: 1911 | 8½-7½ | Average: 1830 |
Report from Michael Spurr
On paper, this should have been a comfortable win for Essex, with a significant rating advantage in the bottom half. However, previous matches have taught us that Essex U2050 and ‘on paper’ results rarely go hand-in-hand! As it transpired, the top eight boards proved the difference for Essex with four wins and a single loss. A number of ‘shock’ results in the bottom eight boards kept Middlesex in the match and took things down to the wire.
After a couple of hours play, initial results went badly for Essex with losses on 15 and 10. However, the match was soon level with a nice rook endgame from Malcolm on Board 14 and breakthrough attack from Steve on Board 5. A sequence of draws followed, leaving the match tied at 3½-3½.
Essex fell two behind again with losses for Philip and me in quick succession. However, there followed a surge of four wins in a row for Madison, Robert, John H and Edgar, taking Essex to 7½ and a 2 point lead. Only one point needed from the three remaining games.
On Board 4, John M was playing on increments in a tricky queen and minor piece endgame. Unfortunately, time pressure was decisive in the end and Middlesex pulled a point back. On Board 8, Ashwin was playing in a knight v bishop ending with most pawns blockaded. After some shuffling of pieces a draw was agreed and, at worst, the match would be tied. Fortunately, on Board 16, the final game to finish, Ian’s opponent offered a draw in a rook and bishop endgame. With both players having a few minutes left on the clock, Ian quickly accepted to my great relief!
So, Essex won the match by the tightest margin, 8½-7½, and move on to 2/2 (a welcome contrast to last season!).
Many thanks to everyone who played, and special thanks to Mark Murrell for stepping in on Board 3 and gaining a very impressive draw.
U2050
Played Saturday, 22 November 2025, at Childs Hill
| Middx | v | Essex | |
| 1 | Brixel, Christof 2037 (2034) [W] | 1-0 | Hodgson, John H 2036 (2050)[B] |
| 2 | Mackenzie, Colin 2011 (2005) | ½-½ | Myall, Ivan J 2040 (2010) |
| 3 | Rubeck, Jonathan 1917 (1993) | 0-1 | Rix, Steven JL 1994 (2009) |
| 4 | Calvert, D Ian 1968 (1973) | 0-1 | Jaszkiwskyj, Peter 2009 (2001) |
| 5 | Hayler, Andrew 1946 (1927) | 0-1 | Willoughby, Christopher 1949 (1999) |
| 6 | Lees, Fraser A 1924 (1923) | ½-½ | Wilson, Edgar 1964 (1989) |
| 7 | Solomon, D Ajoy 1906 (1906) | 0-1 | Kriman, Salim 2000 (1969) |
| 8 | Cowan, Xavier 1918 (1905) | 0-1 | Catabay, Michael 1952 (1952) |
| 9 | Cann, Arthur 1874 (1881) | 0-1 | Stern, Robert C 1956 (1939) |
| 10 | Kennelly, Paul 1807 (1849) | 0-1 | McCall, Martin 1900 (1916) |
| 11 | Kay, Jonathan 1856 (1843) | 1-0 | Catabay, Mae C 1914 (1907) |
| 12 | Bates, Hubert 1843 (1843) | 1-0 | Ramage, Colin R 1897 (1905) |
| 13 | Sturt, Charles A 1797 (1827) | 0-1 | Karacsony, Istvan 1902 (1905) |
| 14 | Hayali, Laith 1828 (1812) | 0-1 | Catabay, Rezin C 1858 (1844) |
| 15 | Hazell, Peter 1825 (1809) | 0-1 | Twitchell, Neville H 1809 (1832) |
| 16 | Bohnacker, Andreas 1774 (1774) | 0-1 | Hunnable, Ian D 1833 (1827) |
| Average: 1890 | 4-12 | Average: 1939 |
Report from skipper Michael Spurr
Despite a few of the squad being unavailable, I was lucky to be able to call on a number of players returning to the U2050 team after a long absence. Therefore, we took a strong team to Childs Hill, although not hugely outrating the Middlesex team.
The match started quietly with a quick draw for Ivan on board 2 – definitely not a sign of things to come! Essex took the lead with a nice win for Rezin on 14, calmly converting a material advantage, and never looked back. At the halfway point, Essex had won six of the eight games. This included a clean sweep on the bottom four boards, a second win for the Catabay family, thanks to dad Michael on Board 8, and an impressive win for Pete on Board 4 against Middlesex stalwart Ian Calvert.
Further wins for Martin and Steve on Boards 10 and 3 took Essex to the magic 8½ points, but there was to be no let up! The final six games concluded with wins for Chris, Robert and Salim and a draw for Edgar, giving Essex a magnificent 12-4 victory; possibly a record for the ‘modern’ era with 4-digit ratings.
[Webmaster’s note: this excellent result came close to equalling the U2050 current era record, which is Essex 12½-3½ Kent at Wanstead on 12 November 2022. But it is certainly the largest Away victory since the introduction of four-digit ratings. We recall a 13-3 victory away to Kent in the U175 era on 13 January 2001 under the imperious captaincy of the late John Philpott, which we believe is the largest Essex win (at least for the U175/U180/U2050 team) in the period since the rating-limited sections were introduced.]
Unfortunately, I simply could not keep up with all of the wins and therefore cannot provide a quick summary of each game. However, alongside the wins for Rezin and Pete, I also noted an impressive endgame from Neville – showing the value of an active rook pair – and a nice mating attack from Ian, despite his opponent finding some good defensive resources.
. . . .
Essex U2050 now head the table on 6 points from its three matches. Kent and Surrey each have 2 points with a match in hand. Middx, played three, lost three, are last; the fortunes of Essex and Middx have completely reversed from last year after three matches.
Games
U2050
Played Saturday, 6 December 2025, at Wanstead
| Essex | v | Surrey | |
| 1 | Hodgson, John H 2036 (2051) [B] | ½-½ | Foley, John P 2023 (2014) [W] |
| 2 | Myall, Ivan J 2040 (2024) | 1-0 | Lee, Peter 2026 (2009) |
| 3 | Rix, Steven JL 1994 (2009) | 1d0 | Shah, Meet 1915 (1967) |
| 4 | Jaszkiwskyj, Peter 2009 (1996) | 1-0 | Stimpson, Philip M 1968 (1937) |
| 5 | Wilson, Edgar 1964 (1989) | 1-0 | Dupré, Paul D 1891 (1919) |
| 6 | Kriman, Salim 2000 (1965) | ½-½ | Davies, Neil T 1921 (1904) |
| 7 | Killeen, Robert T 1955 (1962) | 0-1 | Phillips, Owen S 1912 (1903) |
| 8 | GopiKrishna, Ashwin 1826 (1913) | 0-1 | Smith, Martin G 1863 (1885) |
| 9 | Catabay, Rezin C 1858 (1860) | ½-½ | Smart, Michael R 1879 (1873) |
| 10 | Kingsley, Malcolm P 1842 (1851) | 0-1 | Bates, Alan 1872 (1869) |
| 11 | Upadhye, Nilesh 1838 (1847) | 0d1 | Pearson, Charlie 1842 (1843) |
| 12 | Murrell, Mark RA 1860 (1840) | ½-½ | Hogarth, Mark J 1822 (1825) |
| 13 | Spurr, Michael 1859 (1836) | ½-½ | Keen, Maya 1836 (1825) |
| 14 | Hunnable, Ian D 1833 (1831) | ½-½ | Polanyk, John 1773 (1770) |
| 15 | Twitchell, Neville H 1809 (1821) | ½-½ | Fox, James 1813 (1765) |
| 16 | Reynolds, D Ian W 1827 (1776) | 0-1 | Stokes, Paul C 1740 (1755) |
| Average: 1910 | 7½-8½ | Average: 1881 |
Report by Michael Spurr
For as long as I can remember, Essex U2050 have always been victorious over Surrey U2050 at Wanstead House (including a memorable ECF Final a few years back!). However, such records eventually end up being broken and Saturday 6th December was that day.
Despite the unavailability of a few regulars, the Essex team held an average rating advantage of 30 points per board. However, we should know by now that extrapolating such rating advantages is usually a false endeavour! Both teams were missing a player at the match start, and on reaching the default time of 1 hour, neither had turned up. A default was therefore declared for each team and the match score remained even.
Surrey drew first blood on Board 16 and six draws then followed. The Surrey lead was further increased with a win on Board 8, but Essex immediately struck back with a nice win for Edgar on Board 5, whose central pawns powered down the board. Again, Surrey took a two point lead with a win on Board 10 (a very sharp position with both player threatening checkmate) and again, Essex fought back with a win for Pete on Board 4 after his opponent exchanged into a losing pawn endgame.
Essex finally drew level with a win for Ivan on Board 2 (another pawn endgame, where Ivan won the race to queen), giving a match score of 7-7 with games on Boards 7 and 15 still in play. Rob looked to have the advantage, but with both players down to their last minutes, his opponent was able to capitalise on a miscalculation. So, we needed Neville to win to tie the match. However, with even material in the endgame and little time left, this was an extremely difficult ask. A draw was soon agreed and Surrey took the match by the narrowest margin.
All-in-all, a disappointing result after our start to the season. However, it was a close match that could easily have gone our way and our previous match results have given us some leeway in the task of qualifying for the ECF finals.
U2050
Played Saturday, 24 January 2025, Away
| Surrey | v | Essex | |
| 1 | Young, Daniel J 2017 (2032) [W] | ½-½ | Jaszkiwskyj, Peter 2009 (2021) [B] |
| 2 | Razhnou, Lev 1870 (2016) | 1-0 | Rix, Steven JL 1994 (2000) |
| 3 | Gosling, Marcus 2019 (2015) | 0-1 | Smith, Ryan M 1967 (1996) |
| 4 | Andrews, B Peter A 2035 (2009) | 1-0 | Wilson, Edgar 1964 (1995) |
| 5 | Scott, David A 2007 (1994) | ½-½ | Willoughby, Christopher 1949 (1993) |
| 6 | Shah, Meet 1915 (1956) | 1-0 | Stern, Robert C 1956 (1978) |
| 7 | Stimpson, Philip M 1968 (1936) | ½-½ | Kriman, Salim 2000 (1963) |
| 8 | Dupré, Paul D 1891 (1925) | 0-1 | Killeen, Robert T 1955 (1956) |
| 9 | Edwards, Nicholas L 1932 (1911) | 1-0 | GopiKrishna, Ashwin 1826 (1900) |
| 10 | Collins, Anthony S 1884 (1886) | 0-1 | Staniland, Philip 1838 (1888) |
| 11 | Smith, Martin G 1863 (1884) | ½-½ | Ramage, Colin R 1897 (1859) |
| 12 | Davies, Neil T 1921 (1882) | ½-½ | Spurr, Michael 1859 (1841) |
| 13 | Bates, Alan 1872 (1878) | 0-1 | Collyer, Alex 1819 (1835) |
| 14 | Pearson, Charlie 1842 (1819) | ½-½ | Kingsley, Malcolm P 1842 (1830) |
| 15 | Keen, Maya 1836 (1818) | 0-1 | Hunnable, Ian D 1833 (1828) |
| 16 | Polanyk, John 1773 (1797) | 0-1 | Murrell, Mark RA 1860 (1797) |
| Average: 1916 (1922) | 7-9 | Average: 1911 (1918) | |
| The first rating (not in brackets) is the fixed September rating; the second (bracketed) is the January fixed rating, used by both captains for board order. | |||
Report by Michael Spurr
Due to unavailability and withdrawals, I actually struggled to get 16 players for this match! Many thanks to Mark Murrell for changing plans at the last minute and stepping in to help avoid a default. We welcomed two debutants – Ryan Smith in his first county game for Essex and Alex Collyer, from the U1850 squad, in his first U2050 match. As you will see, both made an impressive start!
Despite my troubles and the fact that Surrey at home tend to be very strong, the team lists only gave an average of +5 rating points per board to Surrey [+4 on January ratings – WM]. Therefore, a close match was expected (usually the case against Surrey anyway). Essex started off very well, remaining unbeaten over the first seven games and taking a three point lead. Ian used his endgame experience to gain an impressive win against a strong junior on Board 15, Mark won the exchange and duly converted on Board 16, and Alex won a piece, followed shortly by the game, on Board 13.
At this point the score was 5½ – 2½ to Essex and the expected Surrey fightback began with wins on Boards 9 and 6. However, Essex were never behind in the match. Rob converted his material advantage in the endgame on 8, another strong Surrey junior won on Board 2, and Ryan on Board 3, having looked in a little trouble earlier on, turned things around for a debut win. This took Essex to 8 points and at least a match draw. On Board 10, Philip was playing rook against bishop in a pawn-free endgame. With a draw guaranteed, this meant that we were in the unusual position of knowing the match was won before the game had finished!
I was silently urging Philip to agree a draw, but with a significant time advantage and the draw in hand he played on. His opponent then moved his king and bishop to the worst squares available, allowing Philip to force the win of the bishop with a threat of checkmate! At the same time, Surrey won on Board 4 to give a final match score of 9-7 to Essex.
Essex therefore holds the head-to-head tie-break advantage against Surrey. We are now guaranteed a top two finish and qualification to the ECF finals, since only Kent can potentially overtake us. A point at home to Kent in our final match will ensure the SCCU title, but with Kent and Surrey playing each other two weeks prior, the state of play will become much clearer after that result is known. So, Philip’s decision to play on and take advantage of his opponent’s mistake has proved crucial!
U2050
To be Played Saturday, 28 February 2025, at Wanstead
| Essex | v | Kent | |
| 1 | – | ||
| 2 | – | ||
| 3 | – | ||
| 4 | – | ||
| 5 | – | ||
| 6 | – | ||
| 7 | – | ||
| 8 | – | ||
| 9 | – | ||
| 10 | – | ||
| 11 | – | ||
| 12 | – | ||
| 13 | – | ||
| 14 | – | ||
| 15 | – | ||
| 16 | – | ||
| – |